The BC Maritime Employers Association released details of its final offer to the union representing more than 700 foremen ahead of the upcoming lockout on Monday.

The proposal, dated Wednesday and sent to International Longshore and Warehouse Association Local 514 President Frank Morena, was revealed to reporters on Saturday.

This includes a 19.2 per cent increase over the four-year contract, which runs from April 2023 to 31 March 2027, as well as a 16 per cent increase in pension benefit and a 10 per cent increase in employer contributions to the benefits scheme . and an average lump sum of $21,000 for eligible employees, which includes back pay since contract termination.

In its email to Morena, the employers’ association says it has been bargaining with the union for nearly two years to renew their collective agreement, which expires in March 2023, and that the offer represents its “sincere determination to conclude negotiations.”

Morena was not immediately available for comment, but had previously said workers were “extremely angry” that employers were refusing to bargain on key issues such as staffing requirements as automation increased at ports and the lockout was “an attempt to coerce workers”. “The federal government will intervene in the dispute.”

The union on Thursday issued a 72-hour strike notice for job action starting at 8 a.m. Monday, prompting the employers’ association to issue a formal notice that it would lock out members of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 “for defensive purposes.” at the same time.

There has been a recent series of disruptions at the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest port, due to labor unrest.

The list includes days of picketing at several grain terminals in September, a work stoppage involving both major Canadian railways in August, and a longshoremen’s strike that lasted 13 days last year and froze billions of dollars of trade at the ports.

The expanded labor action at the Port of Montreal on Thursday closed both container terminals and halted 40 per cent of container capacity at Canada’s second-largest port.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2024.